Brendan Carr's renomination, the internet of things, and broadcasters' role in emergencies on today's agenda https://www.benton.org/events
Sen Jeff Flake: From our very beginnings, our freedom has been predicated on truth
I rise today to talk about the truth, and its relationship to democracy. For without truth, and a principled fidelity to truth and to shared facts, our democracy will not last. 2017 was a year which saw the truth – objective, empirical, evidence-based truth -- more battered and abused than any other in the history of our country, at the hands of the most powerful figure in our government. It was a year which saw the White House enshrine “alternative facts” into the American lexicon, as justification for what used to be known simply as good old-fashioned falsehoods. It was the year in which an unrelenting daily assault on the constitutionally-protected free press was launched by that same White House, an assault that is as unprecedented as it is unwarranted. “The enemy of the people,” was what the president of the United States called the free press in 2017. It is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken by Josef Stalin to describe his enemies. It bears noting that so fraught with malice was the phrase “enemy of the people,” that even Nikita Khrushchev forbade its use, telling the Soviet Communist Party that the phrase had been introduced by Stalin for the purpose of “annihilating such individuals” who disagreed with the supreme leader. This alone should be a source of great shame for us in this body, especially for those of us in the president’s party. For they are shameful, repulsive statements. And, of course, the president has it precisely backward – despotism is the enemy of the people. The free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy. When a figure in power reflexively calls any press that doesn’t suit him “fake news,” it is that person who should be the figure of suspicion, not the press.
President Trump Hands Out ‘Fake News Awards'
President Donald Trump — who gleefully questioned President Barack Obama’s birthplace for years without evidence, long insisted on the guilt of the Central Park Five despite exonerating proof and claimed that millions of illegal ballots cost him the popular vote in 2016 — wanted to have a word with the American public about accuracy in reporting. So, after weeks of shifting deadlines, and cryptic clues, President Trump released his long-promised “Fake News Awards,” an anti-media project that had alarmed advocates of press freedom and heartened his political base. The “winners” were CNN, mentioned four times; The New York Times, with two mentions; and ABC, The Washington Post, Time and Newsweek, with one mention apiece. The various reports singled out by President Trump touched on serious issues, like the media’s handling of the investigation by the special counsel Robert Mueller III into the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia, and frivolous matters, like the manner in which journalists conveyed how the president fed fish during a stop at a koi pond on his visit to Japan.
Why President Trump's war on the media is a failure
[Commentary] Is President Donald Trump losing his war on the media? There’s the conservative information bubble. President Trump wants his people to retreat further inside of it, so they’ll never hear a discouraging word about him and his greatness. So how is that working out for him? Is it keeping his approval ratings from being the lowest of any president in history at this point in his term? Does it enable him to win arguments over things like whether he referred to “shithole” countries? Is it keeping Democrats from winning one stunning victory after another in off-year and special elections? Is it going to stave off the anti-Trump wave election in November that even some Republicans now believe they can do nothing to stop? No one is more firmly ensconced inside that bubble than the president himself. Despite having the collective resources of the US government at his disposal, he prefers to learn what’s going on in the world from a daily three-hour immersion in the carnival of numbskullery that is “Fox & Friends.” But does this help President Trump in any way? Does it allow him to make smart policy decisions or point him toward clever political strategies? He may watch for the unceasing ego massage the trio of nitwit hosts reliably deliver to him, but it can’t help but make him dumber every time he tunes in. To be clear, I’m not saying that there aren’t many problems with the way the mainstream media have covered the Trump presidency, nor that having a supportive conservative media behind him doesn’t help him keep Republicans in line. But Trump’s war on the media is, on the whole, a failure. Given how enraged he gets whenever he sees even a bit of criticism in print or on TV, I suspect he knows it. [Paul Waldman is a senior writer at The American Prospect]
Trump’s argument in record-keeping case: ‘Courts cannot review the president’s compliance with the Presidential Records Act’
Can a federal court decide whether the White House is breaking presidential record-keeping laws, such as by using encrypted apps that automatically erase messages once they’re read or issuing executive orders to avoid creating a paper trail accessible to the public? Government attorneys told a federal judge in Washington that the answer is a sweeping “no,” in a case that could help determine whether open-government laws are keeping pace with frontiers in communications technology. Seeking to dismiss a lawsuit from watchdog groups against the Trump administration, Justice Department attorney Steven Myers cited the Presidential Records Act of 1978. The law was passed in the wake of Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal in part to preserve vital evidence for criminal investigations. In two appeals court decisions from 1993 — the last time similar questions were tested — judges had no trouble ruling that the records law encompassed the exploding use of email. But judges found that permitting private parties to sue under the law would upset “Congress’s carefully crafted balance” that allows presidents to control the “creation, management, and disposal” of their records while in office, Myers said. “Courts cannot review the president’s compliance with the Presidential Records Act,” he said.
What internet search data reveal about Donald Trump’s first year in office
The Fox News Effect
[Commentary] The past month has made it quite clear that Fox News plays an outsized role in President Donald Trump’s information diet. Compared to 2017, the president has built in more unstructured time to watch television in 2018. And President Trump, like most Republicans, watches and trusts Fox News far more than any other outlet. Just as President Trump has paid more attention to Fox News, the channel has lavished more favorable attention on the president. Just as the CNN effect is subject to debate, it is worth pointing out the limits of any Fox News effect. The president’s actual advisers were able to get him to reverse his position on the Section 702 authorization. If anything really important crops up, President Trump will hear about it eventually. [Daniel Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University]
Co-Chairs of Senate Broadband Caucus Urge President Trump to Include Dedicated Funding for Broadband Deployment
In a letter to President Donald Trump, Sens Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Angus King (I-ME), John Boozman (R-AR), and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)—the co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Broadband Caucus—call for the prioritization of direct funding support for broadband deployment in an infrastructure package that will help close the digital divide and ensure our country maintains its global competitiveness. Stand-alone funding for broadband will ensure that telecommunications infrastructure is advanced alongside needed upgrades to our roads, rail, bridges, ports and waterways. The Senators wrote, "There is strong bipartisan support for including broadband funding in an infrastructure package. Boosting current investments in broadband deployment will provide new economic opportunities in communities that are struggling to compete. Expanding access to broadband is the infrastructure challenge of our generation and an infrastructure plan for the 21st century must address the broadband connectivity issues facing rural America.”
House Communications Subcommittee Introduces Bills on Broadband Infrastructure and Innovation
A second round of broadband infrastructure bills have been introduced by members of the House Communications Subcommittee. The bills focus on supporting innovation and advancing broadband infrastructure in rural communities.
- Making Available Plans to Promote Investment in Next Generation Networks without Overbuilding and Waste (MAPPING NOW) Act, sponsored by Reps Bill Johnson (R-OH) and Brett Guthrie (R-KY), would direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to conduct a National Broadband Map. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) was previously charged with conducting the National Broadband Map via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and this will reassert its authority. An accurate map of broadband availability is an important precursor to ensure that scarce infrastructure funds are targeted to those rural areas most in need. This legislation will initiate the process on how best to develop the National Broadband Map.
- Promoting Exchanges for Enhanced Routing of Information so Networks are Great (PEERING) Act, sponsored by Rep Billy Long (R-MO). Internet Exchanges (or peering centers) are the physical locations where networks come together, and where content providers cache content closer to end users to increase speed and efficiency of networks. The bill would authorize a matching a grant program through the NTIA to promote peering centers where none exist, or to help an existing one expand if it is the only such facility in a core-based statistical area. The bill would also authorize eligible recipients under the Universal Service Fund’s E-Rate program and Telehealth program to use such funds to contract with a broadband provider to obtain a connection to a peering facility, or to pay costs of maintaining a point of presence at a peering facility.
- Wireless Internet Focus on Innovation in Spectrum Technology for Unlicensed Deployment (WIFI STUDy) Act, sponsored by Rep Ryan Costello (R-PA), would direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study on the complementary role of unlicensed spectrum in assisting with internet traffic management, and the potential for gigabit Wi-Fi service in spectrum bands below 6 gigahertz.
Washington’s next big tech battle: closing the country’s digital divide
President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress are forging ahead with new plans to boost high-speed internet around the country, hoping that their signature crusade — deregulation — might help spur better web access in the country’s hardest-to-reach rural areas. The bid to boost broadband is expected to become a small but critical component of infrastructure reform, a still-evolving proposal that could set aside $200 billion in federal funds to upgrade the guts of the United States — including aging roads, bridges and tunnels. Whether Democrats and Republicans can actually bridge the digital divide, however, may very well hinge on something far more analogue — whether they can narrow the political gap still between them. “From a Wall Street perspective,” said Blair Levin, architect of the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Plan, “would you be betting on a big infrastructure package actually happening and having an impact right now? I don’t think so.”
Reps Eshoo and McKinley Introduce ‘Dig Once’ Legislation to Reduce Cost of Expanding Broadband
Reps Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and David B. McKinley (R-WV) introduced the Broadband Conduit Deployment Act of 2018. This commonsense legislation, commonly referred to as ‘Dig Once’, would mandate the inclusion of broadband conduit—plastic pipes which house fiber-optic communications cable—during the construction of any road receiving federal funding. This practice will eliminate the need to dig up recently-paved roads to expand broadband infrastructure, significantly reducing the cost of increasing Internet access to underserved communities across the country. This creative, bipartisan proposal will reduce costs drastically. “By laying broadband conduit during construction of roads that receive federal funding, broadband providers can later install fiber-optic cable without costly excavation of newly built roads,” explained Rep Eshoo. The Federal Highway Administration estimates it is ten times more expensive to lay fiber under an existing road, than to dig a channel for it when the road is being fixed or built. The Broadband Conduit Deployment Act of 2018 is the first in a series of bills Congresswoman Eshoo will be introducing to expand broadband access in local communities across the country.
FCC Proposes $500M Rural Broadband Funding Injection
Federal Communications Commission rural broadband funding could increase by over $500 million if the commission votes to adopt an order circulated by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The the funding would include about $180 million for the current funding year for the nation’s smaller rate-of-return (ROR) carriers who get their support through traditional legacy mechanisms and up to $360 million over the next 10 years to ROR carriers who receive support based on the FCC's Alternative-Connect America Cost Mode (A-CAM). The $500 million would come, in part, from reserves. In addition, the proposed order seeks comment on the Universal Service Fund (USF) budget.
California wanted to bridge the digital divide but left rural areas behind. Now that's about to change
Over the last decade, California’s urban centers have become technology hubs, cities where free Wi-Fi and fiber optic lines are ubiquitous. But in low-income neighborhoods, across the state’s inland regions and in rural communities — often home to large migrant populations — families struggle to connect at all. Some elected officials see that reality as proof that a digital divide is leaving many people behind. And they’ve set out to remedy it. In 2007, the state established the California Advanced Services Fund to offer companies incentive to help bridge the gap. The program has allowed broadband providers to apply for nearly $300 million in grants to bring fiber optic, copper and other cable lines to some of the poorest and hardest-to-reach regions in the state. The goal was to connect 98% of the 12.9 million homes across California, one that as of 2016 was within a few percentage points of being fulfilled. But while nearly 12.3 million homes in urban areas had some form of wireline broadband service by that year, less than half of roughly 680,900 households in rural areas had been connected. After her election to the state Assembly in 2016, Aguiar-Curry decided to help revive the California Internet for All Now Act. The plan, long stymied by opponents in the Legislature, proposed pumping more money into the California Advanced Services Fund and reshaping its mission so that communities like hers would benefit. It turned out to be one of the toughest state political battles of 2017.
Put broadband first for rural Americans
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission estimated in 2017 that to deploy high-speed broadband to 98 percent of American homes, it would cost $40 billion. For 100 percent, the cost doubles. Which is why greater broadband infrastructure funding — both public and private — is urgently needed in remote areas, where the cost of connectivity infrastructure remains extreme. By adopting a “broadband first,” approach, the Trump Administration’s new report is encouraging — from easing federal permitting in remote communities to including broadband in its definition of infrastructure in an August 2017 executive order. Beyond this, we need to continue to move forward with bipartisan congressional action to ensure sustainable and direct federal funding set asides to support rural broadband deployment, to reduce regulatory barriers, and to incentivize more private investment. Encouraging the smart deployment of existing and new federal funds will also be an essential part of any permanent solution. Ultimately, the answer to the rural connectivity equation won’t be red or blue, it will be finding the right policy framework to ensure the 1’s and 0’s that comprise our nation’s digital infrastructure can keep pace with consumer demand. All Americans should be inspired that our government, alongside our nation’s broadband innovators, is finding new pathways to deliver on the promise that broadband can bring to rural communities.
[Jonathan Spalter is president and CEO of USTelecom, a broadband association.]
Reaching rural America with broadband internet service
[Commentary] All across the US, rural communities’ residents are being left out of modern society and the 21st century economy. I’ve traveled to Kansas, Maine, Texas and other states studying internet access and use – and I hear all the time from people with a crucial need still unmet. Rural Americans want faster, cheaper internet like their city-dwelling compatriots have, letting them work remotely and use online services, to access shopping, news, information and government data. With an upcoming Federal Communications Commission vote on whether cellphone data speeds are fast enough for work, entertainment and other online activities, Americans face a choice: Is modest-speed internet appropriate for rural areas, or do rural Americans deserve access to the far faster service options available in urban areas? My work, which most recently studies how people use rural libraries’ internet services, asks a fundamental set of questions: How are communities in rural regions actually connected? Why is service often so poor? Why do 39 percent of Americans living in rural areas lack internet access that meets even the FCC’s minimum definition of “broadband” service? What policies, beyond President Donald Trump’s new executive orders, might help fix those problems? What technologies would work best, and who should be in control of them? The question facing the FCC and Congress – and really, the US as a whole – is whether we are willing to invest in providing broadband service equitably to both urban and rural Americans. Then we need to make sure it is affordable. [Sharon Strover is Director, Telecommunications and Information Policy Institute; Professor of Communication, University of Texas at Austin]
Community Broadband: Privacy, Access, and Local Control
[Commentary] Communities across the United States are considering strategies to protect residents’ access to information and their right to privacy. These experiments have a long history, but a new wave of activists have been inspired to seek a local response to federal setbacks to Internet freedom, such as the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to roll back net neutrality protections, and Congress’ early 2017 decision to eliminate user privacy protections. Having fought and won the first round in the fight for net neutrality only a few short years ago, we know that there is enormous grassroots energy behind preserving the Internet as a democratic forum of ideas and innovation. We also know that lawmakers at all levels bear a fundamental responsibility to develop policies that maintain privacy protections, guarantee free speech and expression, and reduce the digital divide. Here’s how some are meeting the responsibility.
When Disaster Strikes: The Critical Role Of 911 During Major Disasters
Emergency communications systems of all kinds shouldn’t be designed so that a single point of failure leads to a catastrophic result. Nothing and no one is perfect. Our emergency communications systems need to be designed to take account of these realities by having appropriate safeguards and redundancies.That’s why I’d like to briefly outline two areas in which the FCC wants to work with the NG911 Institute and others in the public safety community. The first involves best practices. We need to learn from our experiences over the last several months and develop best practices so that we’re better prepared and more effective in responding to future disasters. The second area in which we want to work closely with you is in accelerating the transition of America’s PSAPs to Next Generation 911. Moving to NG911 is important for a whole host of reasons. One that’s sometimes overlooked is that NG911 networks can support greater resiliency, redundancy, and reliability than legacy 911 networks. [FCC Chairman Ajit Pai]
Google and Twitter face more questions in Washington over Russian interference
Twitter is planning to notify users who may have been exposed to Russian propaganda during the 2016 presidential election, the company's head of public policy said during the Senate Commerce Committee hearing, "Terrorism and Social Media: #IsBigTechDoingEnough?". While the hearing was ostensibly about how social media companies can better combat terrorism, it veered onto other topics, primarily Russia. Committee Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL), for instance, during his initial round of questioning, asked an expert witness to explain how foreign agents might meddle in the upcoming midterms. At the hearing, Clint Watts, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, warned of foreign countries using the kinds of persuasive techniques previously used to recruit Islamist terrorists to manipulate political discourse and mobilize unwitting Americans to attack specific targets.
Apple pledges to spend $350 billion and bring 20,000 jobs to the US within next five years
Apple said that it will spend $350 billion in development and create 20,000 jobs to the United States in the next five years, following the recent corporate tax changes and a greater push to increase manufacturing in the US. As part of this investment, it will also build a new U.S. campus — focused on technical support for customers — in a location to be announced later in 2018. Apple will make payments of around $38 billion in tax money from its profits that it currently holds overseas — a decision that comes after a Trump administration tax plan changed how foreign profits brought back to the United States are taxed. Apple has for years lobbied for changes to corporate taxes. Apple will also spend $10 billion on building data centers, $20 billion in additional infrastructure investment and is increasing the size of a previously announced manufacturing fund to support its suppliers. Further investment will go into education initiatives.
Targeting Verizon users, Sprint revives ‘free unlimited for a year’ promotion
Journalism’s New Patrons: Guardian shows how newspapers could attract philanthropy
Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org) and Robbie McBeath (rmcbeath AT benton DOT org) -- we welcome your comments.
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